To the Editor: Fish kill shows environmental pollution from dairy

The IEPA is investigating a 10-mile-long fish kill in part of the Sangamon River. They have traced the “coffee-colored” discharge back to a 3,100-cow dairy. The IEPA calls it a “complete kill” of all fish, frogs, mussels, and even endangered mud puppies. The IEPA said that “these kinds of illegal agricultural discharges of toxic animal waste into Illinois waterways are not uncommon.”

The other large dairy, near Peoria, has also had a catastrophic discharge. Is this why the Traditions Dairy is fighting against the permits and standards of the IEPA and the USEPA? If this is the kind of statistic we can look forward to from these “state-of-the-art” agricultural marvels, we can hope the regulatory agencies win the fight.